Dragons of Britain 3

Summer 2014

The King of the Red CityA Murdered King & the Rights of Succession

La Morte d’Arthur Book 10, Chapter 59The Streets of Londinium: An Age of Arthur Treasure HuntAn Arthurian Lexicon: Gods & TitansHeralds & ArmsWhispers Around The Realm

STYGIAN FOX

Dragons of BritainThe

THE JOURNAL OF GAMING IN ARTHUR’S BRITAIN

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“The king with his company, appeared at the feast; and mixing withthe Saxons, who, whilst they spoke peace with their tongues,

cherished treachery in their hearts, each man was placed next his enemy.

After they had eaten and drunk, and were much intoxicated, Hengistsuddenly vociferated, “Nimed eure Saxes!” and instantly his adherents

drew their knives, and rushing upon the Britons, each slew him that satnext to him, and there was slain three hundred of the nobles of Vortigern.

The king being a captive, purchased his redemption, by delivering up the three provinces of East, South, and Middle Sex, besides other districts

at the option of his betrayers.”

- Nennius, The History of the Britons (Historia Brittonum), Chapter 46

ContentsNight of the Long Knives

Contents

Noble Edicts Editorial by Steff Worthington

The King of the Red CityA Pendragon Adventureby Dave Elrick

La Morte d’Arthur 10, Ch.59Supplemental Information by Sir Thomas Malory & David Elrick

Lexicon: Gods & TitansArticle by Steff. Worthington

The Streets of LondiniumAn Age of Arthur scenario by Paul Mitchener

Submissions Competition!Win a book on Courtly Love.

Whispers Around The RealmPlot nuggets and ideas

The OtherworldMusic for Arthurian games bySteff Worthington

Bibliophilia: More Essential ReadsAn article on essential Arthurian books by Christopher Payne

Heralds & ArmsA coat of arms generatorby Christopher Payne

Gratitudes & ComplimentariesLinks to our contributors

WritersSteff. J Worthington,

Dave Elrick, Christopher Payne, & Paul Mitchener.

ArtistsSteff. J Worthington,

Nathies Stock, NaraosgaAubrey Beardsley

DewfooterChristopher Payne,

Atistatplay, Wyldraven

This issue is dedicated to all the storytellers and knights yet

undubbed in the world

Cover art: ‘Night 2’ by Nathies Stock

http://nathies-stock.deviantart.com/

Direction & EditingSteff. J. Worthington

Copyright

Submissions & [email protected]

We are eager for submissions and this magazine can only continue with your help. Please e-mail

your submission idea to the address above.

Dragons of Britain is a magazine dedicated to the world of Arthurian gaming & RPGs ‘King Arthur:

Pendragon’ is copyright 2013 Greg Stafford & Nocturnal Media. ‘Age of Arthur’ is copyright 2013 Wordplay Games. This free fan based magazine is not for sale and is a work of fiction. No similarities

to real world people (still living or sleeping underneath a hill) or events are intended.

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Some contests are close. A favour-able sword hit here, a dextrous dodge there, but in my world I rarely get involved in life and death strug-gles other than my constant failed attempts to dodge sugar and all its evils.

A recent close shave though is the magazine you are reading right now. It is delayed, for which I apologise, due to a lack of submissions. I re-fuse to believe there is a dearth of good Arthurian gaming content out there so I appeal to you. Submit your work, see it on a page and enjoyed by those who will appreciate it as much as I do.

It is heartening to see Pendragon and Age of Arthur (the best two Ar-thurian games in my opinion) thriv-ing not only in the English speaking world but further abroad in Europe and further still. Arthur’s knights and ladies seem to be sleeping un-der many and varied hills across the world.

It is my aim, by 2016, to have my own Arthurian role-playing game available to everyone reading this. I hope to produce two versions, one in English and one in Welsh, the near-est equivalent to the language Arthur himself spoke. This magazine will

still heavily feature Pendragon and Age of Arthur but I hope to put an ar-ticle or adventure for my own setting at least once in every few issues.

If you’re a writer who is very famil-iar with the BRP engine then I’d like you to contact me with ‘BRP’ in the header. If you have a proven record of writing then we should talk. Find my e-mail on the contents page.

As a reader, if you want to see a particular Arthurian game cov-ered, or want to add one to the list, then please let me know. I want this magazine to go in the direction it’s readers want.

Next issue will have a tri-parallel timeline for the City of Legions (or Chester as it is today, my home town). The article will show the varying changes to history for both Pendragon and Age of Arthur.

A heartfelt thank you to all those who have submitted and supported Dragons of Britain. It wouldn’t exist without you.

Steff. J. Worthington,Editor

Noble Edicts

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King of theThe

Red City

A Pendragon™ adventure by David Elrickduring the Period of Consolidation

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The King of the Red City

A Pendragon adventure by David Elrick

A Pendragon Scenario based on an original idea from Sir Thomas Malory

The following adventure was origi-nally written to be run at games conventions and so was designed to fit into a four-hour slot.

The adventure is structured in parts (or parts) which detail the important scenes, although the players can encounter the parts in any order (within the limits of geography, obviously), or wander off as they wish. Events outside the parts given should be determined by the GM.

I set this adventure in the late spring of the year 534 AD, although it could be moved to another year without much effort. It begins as the player knights are travelling north and takes place in the area of modern-day Lincolnshire.

Plot Summary

The player characters are travelling north to a tournament at Ebura-cum. They are travelling beside the river Trent, when they see a black boat sailing south. The boat is driven by oars manned by men at arms. At the stern are four women dressed in black and weeping. In

the centre of the boat lies the body of a knight. He has been killed by a wound to the back of the head. In his hand he holds a letter.

The player characters can talk to the ladies or the men at arms. This knight was King Hermance, the King of the Red City (the Red City lies on the coast of Lincolnshire). He was slain by treachery and only a true knight who resolves to avenge his death can take the let-ter. The ladies are taking him to Avalon.

As they cross a river, they hear the sounds of fighting up ahead. Rush-ing forward, they find two young knights beset by eight knights. Be-fore they can join the fight, one of the two knights is felled.

If the player characters join the fight, they soon drive off the eight knights. The two knights are broth-ers and were household knights of the King of the Red City. They were away from court on a mission when he was slain.

One of the two knights is close to death and begs to be taken to a nearby monastery where he can confess his sins and receive ex-treme unction.

Once the fallen knight has died, the remaining brother will explain that the King of the Red City had a son who was smuggled from the court by the nursemaid and hidden against treachery. The nursemaid is now a hag living in the hills.M

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Map of Sugales/Gloucester border

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When they find the hags cottage, they find that half a dozen knights have found it first and are about to slay the hag. In the fight that follows, the hag will be wounded, but can tell the player knights where to look for the boy.

She asks the player knights to burn her cottage with her body in it, so that her body cannot be defiled by the beasts of the forest.

The boy was hidden with monks near the Humber. Initially, the monks are suspicious of the play-er knights, but can be won round. The boy has grown into a man, but has no knightly training and cannot fight to regain his father’s lands. He will renounce his birth-right, allowing one of the player knights to become the new King of the Red City. That should start some arguments...

He will give them some help to raise an army from the Earl of Lincoln.

The player knights travel East at the head of a small army. The killer knights have heard of the advance and will ride out to meet them. This will probably turn into a battle, but there could be the opportunity for some individual combat first. There will certainly be a running fight afterwards.

The player knight who avenged the King of the Red City becomes the new King and has the option

of assigning fiefs to the other play-ers.

A Guide to Places

Eburacum is modern-day York. Lincoln is, of course, modern day Lincoln.

The Red City is on the coast south of modern day Grimsby. It would make sense for it to be directly oppo-site Spurn point (called the Delecta-ble Isle at this point) and thus have a controlling influence on the narrow-est part of the mouth of the Humber.

The five manors of Covenham St Bartholemew, Grainthorpe, Somer-cotes, Tetney and Yarburgh lie in a rough fan south west of the red city and the modern day villages which bear their names can easily be found on modern maps of the area (or using Google maps-https://www.google.co.uk maps/@53.4448463,0.191594,12z ).

Sunk Island is south east of Hull, just where the coast opens into a bay before it reaches the Delectable Isle, opposite modern-day Grimsby. During the period of this adventure it was an island a mile or more off the Yorkshire shore.

The exact location where the player characters meet the black boat or the monastery where they take the wounded knights are not detailed. Those should be somewhere in the region of modern day Newark.M

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Part 1 – The King of the Red City

Location: By the river Trent

Date: Late Spring, 534AD

The player characters are trav-elling north to a tournament at Eburacum. It doesn’t really mat-ter what the tournament is for, as that lies outside the scope of this adventure.

It is late Spring, soon after Pen-tecost (or Beltane for the pagans) and the day is warm so they are not riding hard. They are riding along beside the river Trent when they see a black boat sailing south towards them. The boat is driven by oars manned by men at arms and at the stern are four women dressed in black and weeping. As it draws closer, it moves in to-wards the bank where the player characters are.

The boat will come to rest near the player characters. A man at arms will jump ashore and hail the knights in a friendly manner. He will answer questions, although he does not know the whole story.

If the man at arms is attacked, he will jump back aboard the boat which will pull off into the river. The boat will then set off south, whatever the players do.

In the centre of the boat lies the body of a knight. He was clearly a rich and powerful man in his 40s.

He has been killed by a wound to the back of the head and, although ef-forts have been made to clear it up, there is still some blood in his hair. His hands are crossed over his body and in his right hand he holds a let-ter.

The player characters can talk to the ladies or the men at arms. This knight was King Hermance, the King of the Red City. He was slain by treachery and only a true knight who resolves to avenge his death can take the letter. The ladies are taking him to Avalon.

Only one knight can take the letter. This is the first dilemma - let the players choose who by whichever method they like (jousting, arguing, etc), Possible checks include:

* Any who defer to a player knight with higher Glory should get a Val-orous check.

* Any who defer to a player knight of the same religion get a Pious check.

* Any who choose not to take the let-ter should get a Modest check.

* Any, of whichever religion, who of-fer a prayer for the dead king should get a Pious check.

Don’t overdo it, but reward good roleplaying.

The knight who takes the letter (and therefore accepts the challenge), gains 10 Glory. The letter can be

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taken from the kings grasp easily. It reads:

RECOMMENDING unto King Arthur and to all his knights errant, beseeching them all that inso-much as I, King Hermance, King of the Red City, thus am slain by felony and treason, through two knights of mine own, and of mine own bringing up and of mine own making, that some worshipful knight will revenge my death, insomuch I have been ever to my power well willing unto Arthur’s court. And who that will adventure his life

with these two traitors for my sake in one battle, I, King Her-mance, King of the Red City, freely give him all my lands and rents that ever I wielded in my life.

The man at arms and the queens can tell the characters little more. The letter was written by a monk as the king was dying.

The man at arms wishes the play-er knights luck and re-boards the barge which is pushed off and heads downstream in silence.

When they are ready, go to the next part.

Part 2 – The Hard-Pressed Knights

Travelling North, the player knights hear the sounds of fighting up ahead. Rushing forward, they find two young knights beset by eight knights. Before they can join the fight, one of the two knights is felled.

If the player characters join the fight, they can soon drive off the eight knights. Use Mercenary Knight sta-tistics from the rulebook.

These knights are not honourable men. Once they realise that they no longer have the advantage of num-bers, they will attempt to overwhelm their opponents in the first round of combat. If this fails (as it should), they will attempt to break free and es-cape. They will not get involved in a long fight. Glory: 50 for each knight defeated (killed or captured) or 5 for each knight driven off.

If the player knights do not join the fight, both embattled knights are felled and left for dead. The attack-ing knights will then attempt to bluff or threaten the player knights but will not come close enough for combat. They will then ride off Eastwards.

The two knights are brothers and were household knights of the King of the Red City. They were away from court on a mission when he was slain.

One of the two knights (both if the players did not intervene) is close to M

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death and begs to be taken to a nearby monastery where he can confess his sins and receive extreme unction.

The characters passed a monastery less than an hour’s ride away. They can take the knights there where the monks will do what they can. The wounded knight will die soon after and the monks will pray for him. They will offer hospitality for the night. The sleeping quarters will be bare monastic cells, but the food and ale will be good quality. Any knights who wish to do so are in-vited to join the monks at prayers.

Once the fallen knight has died, the remaining brother will explain that the King of the Red City had a son.

The mother died when the son was young and the son was taken from the court by the nursemaid and hid-den against treachery. No-one knows where the son is now, or even if he still lives. The nursemaid is now a hag liv-ing in the hills.

He will also explain that, about three years ago, the king took in two young wandering knights, called Aedan and Rhodri, and made them wards of his court. He spent more and more time with them and their lies steadily poi-soned him against members of his household. From what he has heard, it was they who murdered the king while out on a hunt.

He can fill in a bit about the Red City. It lies close to the coast at the mouth

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* go to find the nursemaid (see Part 3 – The Hag)

* go straight to the Red City (see Part 7 – The Battle)

* go to Lincoln to get an army (see Part 5 – Lincoln)

Part 3 – The Hag

Location: The Roestoc forest, Somewhere in modern-day Nottinghamshire

The hag’s cottage is in a clearing in the Roestoc forest near Conis-borough, well off the main roads, but there is a path to it. Observant player knights might realise that they are not the first to ride this path, but don’t tell them unless they think to look.

When they reach the hag’s cottage, they find that half a dozen knights have found it first. Four remain on horseback in the clearing, while two have dismounted and are just about to enter the cottage with swords drawn.

Depending on what happens next, one of the knights enters the cot-tage and stabs the hag fatally and scatters the fire in an attempt to torch the cottage. He then exits the cottage to join the fight. Use Mer-cenary Knight statistics from the rulebook. Glory: 50 for each knight defeated (killed or captured) or 5 for each knight driven off.

of the Humber estuary. It is a mod-erately rich kingdom, but since it faces no direct enemies in practice it pretty much runs itself and owes allegiance only to King Arthur. It has five smaller fiefs which owe al-legiance to the King of the Red Cas-tle. Currently none of these has a lord, although the daughters of the previous lords may still be pre-sent (if they have not been defiled by the killer knights).

The fiefs are:

* Covenham St Bartholemew

* Grainthorpe

* Somercotes

* Tetney

* Yarburgh

This is the second dilemma. The news of the son may be a bit of a blow to the knight who took the letter, since it represents a rival for the throne. Honest or Deceit-ful checks may be appropriate at some point in light of this news.

When the players are finished here, they can do one of the fol-lowing:

* go on to Eburacum to the tourna-ment. In this case, the adventure is over. You can either run a tourna-ment or find another adventure.

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When the knights are killed or driv-en off, the players can enter the cot-tage (although hovel is a better de-scription). The cottage has wicker and mud (well, mostly mud) walls, with peats stacked around the in-side of the walls for extra warmth, and a thatched roof that has seen better days and sags alarmingly. There is a fire in the centre of the cottage and the smoke is supposed to escape through a smoke-hole in the thatch, but actually gathers in the roof space and makes the cot-tage darker and smellier. Aware-ness rolls will allow knights to discern through the thick smoke a bundle of rags near the back wall which is the hag’s bed, where she is lying mortally wounded.

The hag clearly doesn’t have a lot of time left, especially if the cot-tage is on fire, but she will have to be convinced that the player knights are not seeking the boy to kill him. Showing her the letter will convince her instantly. Otherwise, good Orate skills or whatever the players come up with will have to do.

She will tell the knights that she left the boy with monks on Sunk Island on the other side of the Humber. As far as she knows he is still there. If asked, she will tell them that she took the boy when his mother died, when he was about six, and he will be around 18 or 19 now (she’ll probably mutter about fad-ing memory). She will not tell them where Sunk Island is.

She asks the player knights to burn her cottage with her body in it (once she’s died, obviously - she has no intention of frying), so that her body cannot be defiled by the beasts of the forest. She regrets not having a priest to confess to or receive extreme unction from - al-though one of the Christians could do this on a successful Pious roll.

When the players are finished here, they can do one of the following:

* try to find Sunk Island (see Part 4 – The Monastery)

* go straight to the Red City (see Part 7 – The Battle)

* go to Lincoln to get an army (see Part 5 – Lincoln)

Part 4 – The Monastery

Location: A monastery, Sunk Is-land, North bank of the Humber near the sea

None of the player knights know where Sunk Island is, so they are going to need to ask someone. Ob-vious choices (from the map) are the Abbey of Beale or the towns of Winteringham or Pocklington. There are ferries at the Abbey of Beale or Winteringham.

Asking at the Abbey is the best bet. They don’t know exactly where Sunk Island is, but they know that it is along the North bank of the Humber close the Delectable

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Isle. No, they don’t know why it is called the Delectable Isle and they are openly dubious about how you can have a monastery on an island which, by its name, is sunk. But they wish the knights well.

Winteringham, although out-side the territory of the Red City, contains agents of the usurping knights. Asking there will alert the knights who control the Red City who will then send their own sup-porters to find the boy and kill him (and any boring monks who might get lippy). They might also ambush the player knights if they have an advantage (or if the game is flag-ging at this point).

Pocklington is possibly the best bet, because the lord of Pocklington cas-tle knows where Sunk Island is. It is also well away from the Red City and the chances of being found out are very slight.

The boy was hidden with monks who live in a monastery on Sunk Island, along the North bank of the Humber near the sea. The mon-astery looks out over the Humber estuary where the Red City is just visible to the South East on the Southern shore. There is no regu-lar ferry service to the island, but the monks may send a boat, or the knights can get local villagers along the shore to row them out to the island. The channel between the island and shore is not fast flowing (it silts up often).

Initially, the monks are suspicious

of the player knights, but can be won round. Showing them the let-ter will convince them. Otherwise, good Orate skills or whatever the players come up with will have to do.

The boy’s name is Aeron. He has grown into a man, but has no knightly training and cannot fight to regain his father’s lands. He will calmly accept the news of his father’s death (he barely remem-bers his father). He has no loyalty to the Red City and no training as a knight. The monastery is his home now and he will choose to re-main a monk. He will renounce his birthright (in writing if the player knights insist on it) allowing one of the player knights to carry out the wishes in the King’s letter and become the new King of the Red City. That should start some argu-ments...

He will give them a letter to help them raise an army from the Earl of Lincoln (their own troops being too far away). He knows nothing about the current defences of the Red City and can remember little of what it was like when he was last there (he was only six at the time, after all).

When the players are finished here, they can do one of the following:

* go straight to the Red City (see Part 7 – The Battle)

* go to Lincoln to get an army (see Part 5 – Lincoln)

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* go to Eboracum and raise an army at the tourney

Part 5 – Lincoln

Location: Lincoln

The player knights travel South to Lincoln to gather information and, if possible, help.

The Earl of Lincoln is Earl Hywel. At first he will be polite but privately suspicious of these strange knights appearing at his court with tales about the Red City. Showing him either the King’s letter or the letter from Aeron (if they got it) will re-solve his doubts.

He knows of the Red City but he has no real contact with it (even though it is only 30 or so miles away). He knows nothing of the knights who killed King Hernance, but if the players are suspicious types they might think he has some contact with them.

Most of Earl Hywel’s troops have gone South to Lonazep to patrol the Saxon borders near Peterbor-ough, but if the player knights have persuaded him to help (by showing him the King’s letter or by success-ful Orate rolls) he can spare 30 knights and 120 men at arms to help them. His only requirement being that, if the players win and one of them becomes the new King, he will open trade with Lincoln and come to their aid if they ever ask it (he doesn’t want war from an unex-pected quarter).

Alternatively, he will offer to send messengers back to Bedegraine to raise the player characters own troops, but this will take several days and it is likely that the enemy knights already know about the players.

Part 6 – The Battle

Location: The Red City

The player knights travel East at the head of a small army. The killer knights, Aedan and Rhoddri, have heard of the advance and will ride out to meet them. Aedan and Rho-dri are not popular rulers and can-not muster much of an army - only 25 knights and 100 or so men. If they player characters have accept-ed aid from Lincoln, their army is only slightly larger, but has the ad-vantage of higher morale.

Use the Skirmish rules (unless you enjoy the complexity of the battle rules). Use young knight statistics for Aedan and Rhodri and Ser-geant stats for the other knights in their army.

Make Battle rolls for each com-mander. The character with the letter should logically be the com-mander for the player characters, but he may choose to defer to the a character with a higher battle skill.

Aedan (the enemy commander) has a battle skill of 10 and he rolls a failure, giving a -5 tactics modi-fier.

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Run the battle for at least 3 to 5 rounds (or for as long as you are en-joying it). The first round will be a charge, with Lance skills being ap-propriate. The remaining rounds will be straight combat, with Sword skills being used.

The enemy army has lower morale and the ordinary footsoldiers will be unwilling to join combat. After a few rounds, it will be obvious that the enemy army is decreasing fast-er than casualties would account for (the ones at the back have been hanging back and running away as soon as they see their chance).

Eventually the fight will end. Aedan and/or Rhodri (try to keep at least one of them alive for later) will beg for mercy. Allow the player knights to deal with it as they see fit.

When the player knights are victo-rious, they will be able to enter the Red City. Initially the inhabitants of the Red City will greet the player characters in silence, suspecting that they are exchanging one set of unpopular rulers with another. Pub-lishing the King’s letter (via town criers) will change that and celebra-tions will ensue. The remaining Lin-coln knights and troops will stay long enough to join the celebration before going home.

Glory: 100 for surviving the bat-tle. 1000 for dying in a spectacular fashion. Optionally, extra Glory can be earned for in-battle events.

If the die rolls have gone very badly against the player knights and they

have not won, Aedan and/or Rho-dri will attempt to run back to the Red City. They can be ridden down, or chased into the castle where a close-quarters fight can ensue. The upshot should be that at least one player knight survives and wins.

Part 7 – Coronation

Location: The Red City

The player knight who avenged the King of the Red City becomes the new King and has the option of assigning fiefs to the other play-ers.

Play this in as much detail as you like (and time allows), especially if you are using this to kick-start a campaign. This is a full corona-tion, with the pomp and circum-stance necessary.

The fiefs are:

* Covenham St Bartholemew

* Grainthorpe

* Somercotes

* Tetney

* Yarburgh

If you are using this a starter for a campaign, each of these fiefs are currently held by the daugh-ter of the previous lord (no lords remained alive after the coup) and they can be married off to the player knights, allowed to live at

court where they can be wooed, or evicted, as the new King decides. Use the Lady stats from the rule-book or generate the ladies indi-vidually as required. Each lady is young (anywhere from 19 to 25) and moderately attractive.

Glory: 1000 for the new king. 100 for each knight given a fief, plus glory for marrying the heiress, if appropriate.

Expanding This Adventure

The next step is for the new King to visit Camelot so that he can swear fealty to King Arthur. Travel from the wilds of Lincolnshire to Camel-ot in Wiltshire is worth an adven-ture.

The Red City faces no real enemies unless they can contrive to offend the Earl of Lincoln (even the Sax-ons crossing the North Sea will land further south). Alliances with Lincoln and Lonazep make a lot of sense and allow the Red Castle’s modest army service along the Saxon frontier. Alliances with the kingdoms across the Humber also make sense, but are possibly not as urgent.

A particularly Pious (or guilty) new king might also consider inviting Aeron to found a new monastery close to his old home.

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A Companion & Reference Piecefrom Malory for ‘The King of the Red City’.

Presented by David Elrick

Le Morte d'ArthurBook 10 CHAPTER 59

yet he may be overmatched.

And so have I seen knights

done many times; and when

they weened best to have won

worship they lost it, for man-

hood is not worth but if it be

medled with wisdom. And as

for me, said Sir Tristram, it

may happen I shall keep mine

own head as well as another.

So thus they rode until that

they came to Humber bank,

where they heard a cry and

a doleful noise. Then were

they ware in the wind where

came a rich vessel hilled over

with red silk, and the vessel

landed fast by them. There-

with Sir Tristram alighted and

his knights. And so Sir Tris-

tram went afore and entered

into that vessel. And when he

came within he saw a fair bed

Le Morte d'Arthur

Book 10

CHAPTER 59

How they came to Humber

bank, and how they found a

ship there, wherein lay the

body of King Hermance.

SIR, said Palomides, let us

leave of this matter, and let

us see how we shall do at

this tournament. By mine ad-

vice, said Palomides, let us

four hold together against

all that will come. Not by my

counsel, said Sir Tristram, for

I see by their pavilions there

will be four hundred knights,

and doubt ye not, said Sir Tris-

tram, but there will be many

good knights; and be a man

never so valiant nor so big,

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they, in that letter ye shall

hear and know how he was

slain, and for what cause, and

what was his name. But sir,

said the mariners, wit ye well

that no man shall take that

letter and read it but if he be a

good knight, and that he will

faithfully promise to revenge

his death, else shall there be

no knight see that letter open.

Wit ye well, said Sir Tristram,

that some of us may revenge

his death as well as other,

and if it be so as ye mari-

ners say his death shall be

revenged. And therewith Sir

Tristram took the letter out of

the knight's hand, and it said

thus: Hermance, king and lord

of the Red City, I send unto all

knights errant, recommend-

ing unto you noble knights

of Arthur's court. I beseech

them all among them to find

richly covered, and thereupon

lay a dead seemly knight, all

armed save the head, was all

be-bled with deadly wounds

upon him, the which seemed

to be a passing good knight.

How may this be, said Sir Tris-

tram, that this knight is thus

slain? Then Sir Tristram was

ware of a letter in the dead

knight's hand. Master mari-

ners, said Sir Tristram, what

meaneth that letter? Sir, said

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wot for my sake in especial

my lord Arthur let make this

jousts and tournament in this

country; and well I wot that

many worshipful people will

be there at that tournament

for to see me; therefore I fear

me to take this enterprise

upon me that I shall not come

again by time to this jousts.

Sir, said Palomides, I pray you

give me this enterprise, and

ye shall see me achieve it wor-

shipfully, other else I shall die

in this quarrel. Well, said Sir

Tristram, and this enterprise I

give you, with this, that ye be

with me at this tournament

that shall be as this day sev-

en night. Sir, said Palomides,

I promise you that I shall be

with you by that day if I be

unslain or unmaimed.

one knight that will fight for

my sake with two brethren

that I brought up of nought,

and feloniously and traitorly

they have slain me; wherefore

I beseech one good knight to

revenge my death. And he that

revengeth my death I will that

he have my Red City and all my

castles.

Sir, said the mariners, wit

ye well this king and knight

that here lieth was a full wor-

shipful man and of full great

prowess, and full well he

loved all manner knights er-

rants. So God me help, said

Sir Tristram, here is a pite-

ous case, and full fain would

I take this enterprise upon

me; but I have made such a

promise that needs I must be

at this great tournament, or

else I am shamed. For well I

Le morte d'Arthur

Fair knights, said that

knight, I pray you insomuch

as ye be knights errant, that

ye will come and see my cas-

tle, and take such as ye find

there; I pray you heartily. And

so they rode with him until

his castle, and there they were

brought into the hall, that

was well apparelled; and so

they were there unarmed, and

set at a board; and when this

knight saw Sir Tristram, anon

he knew him. And then this

knight waxed pale and wroth

at Sir Tristram. When Sir Tris-

tram saw his host make such

cheer he marvelled and said:

Sir, mine host, what cheer

make you? Wit thou well, said

he, I fare the worse for thee,

for I know thee, Sir Tristram

de Liones, thou slewest my

brother; and therefore I give

thee summons I will slay thee

CHAPTER 60

How Sir Tristram with his fel-

lowship came and were with

an host which after fought

with Sir Tristram; and other

matters.

THEN departed Sir Tristram,

Gareth, and Sir Dinadan, and

left Sir Palomides in the ves-

sel; and so Sir Tristram be-

held the mariners how they

sailed overlong Humber. And

when Sir Palomides was out

of their sight they took their

horses and beheld about

them. And then were they

ware of a knight that came

riding against them unarmed,

and nothing about him but a

sword. And when this knight

came nigh them he saluted

them, and they him again.

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cried and bade him abide and

keep him. So they hurtled to-

gether, but Sir Tristram smote

the other knight so sore that

he bare him over his horse's

croup. That knight arose

lightly and took his horse

again, and so rode fiercely to

Sir Tristram, and smote him

twice hard upon the helm.

Sir knight, said Sir Tristram, I

pray you leave off and smite

me no more, for I would be

loath to deal with you an I

might choose, for I have your

meat and your drink within

my body. For all that he would

not leave; and then Sir Tris-

tram gave him such a buffet

upon the helm that he fell up-

so-down from his horse, that

the blood brast out at the ven-

tails of his helm, and so he lay

still likely to be dead. Then Sir

Tristram said: Me repenteth

an ever I may get thee at large.

Sir knight, said Sir Tristram, I

am never advised that ever I

slew any brother of yours; and

if ye say that I did I will make

amends unto my power. I will

none amends, said the knight,

but keep thee from me.

So when he had dined Sir

Tristram asked his arms, and

departed. And so they rode

on their ways, and within a

while Sir Dinadan saw where

came a knight well armed

and well horsed, without

shield. Sir Tristram, said Sir

Dinadan, take keep to your-

self, for I dare undertake yon-

der cometh your host that

will have ado with you. Let

him come, said Sir Tristram,

I shall abide him as well as I

may. Anon the knight, when

he came nigh Sir Tristram, he

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Le morte d'Arthur

Queen of Northgalis had giv-

en to La Beale Isoud, and the

queen La Beale Isoud gave it to

Sir Tristram. Sir knight, said

Berrant, where had ye that

helm? What would ye? said Sir

Dinadan. For I will have ado

with thee, said the king, for

the love of her that owed that

helm, and therefore keep you.

So they departed and came to-

gether with all their mights

of their horses, and there the

King with the Hundred Knights

smote Sir Dinadan, horse and

all, to the earth; and then he

commanded his servant: Go

and take thou his helm off,

and keep it. So the varlet went

to unbuckle his helm. What

helm, what wilt thou do? said

Sir Tristram, leave that helm.

To what intent, said the king,

will ye, sir knight, meddle

with that helm? Wit you well,

of this buffet that I smote so

sore, for as I suppose he is

dead. And so they left him and

rode on their ways.

So they had not ridden but

a while, but they saw riding

against them two full likely

knights, well armed and well

horsed, and goodly servants

about them. The one was Ber-

rant le Apres, and he was called

the King with the Hundred

Knights; and the other was

Sir Segwarides, which were

renowned two noble knights.

So as they came either by oth-

er the king looked upon Sir

Dinadan, that at that time he

had Sir Tristram's helm upon

his shoulder, the which helm

the king had seen tofore with

the Queen of Northgalis, and

that queen the king loved as

paramour; and that helm the

24

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Sir, said Dinadan, I pray you

take it as for me. That is no

reason, said Tristram, for this

jousts should be yours. At a

word, said Dinadan, I will not

thereof. Then Gareth dressed

him to Sir Segwarides, and

there Sir Segwarides smote

Gareth and his horse to the

earth. Now, said Sir Tristram

to Dinadan, joust with yon-

der knight. I will not there-

of, said Dinadan. Then will I,

said Sir Tristram. And then Sir

Tristram ran to him, and gave

him a fall; and so they left

them on foot, and Sir Tristram

rode unto Joyous Gard, and

there Sir Gareth would not of

his courtesy have gone into

this castle, but Sir Tristram

would not suffer him to de-

part. And so they alighted and

unarmed them, and had great

cheer. But when Dinadan came

said Sir Tristram, that helm

shall not depart from me

or it be dearer bought. Then

make you ready, said Sir Ber-

rant unto Sir Tristram. So they

hurtled together, and there

Sir Tristram smote him down

over his horse's tail; and then

the king arose lightly, and gat

his horse lightly again. And

then he struck fiercely at Sir

Tristram many great strokes.

And then Sir Tristram gave Sir

Berrant such a buffet upon the

helm that he fell down over

his horse sore stonied. Lo,

said Dinadan, that helm is un-

happy to us twain, for I had a

fall for it, and now, sir king,

have ye another fall.

Then Segwarides asked: Who

shall joust with me? I pray

thee, said Sir Gareth unto Di-

nadan, let me have this jousts.

25

Le morte d'Arthur

Then the mariners went unto

Sir Palomides that slept fast.

Sir knight, said the mariners,

ye must arise, for here is a

castle there ye must go into. I

assent me, said Sir Palomides;

and therewithal he arrived.

And then he blew his horn that

the mariners had given him.

And when they within the cas-

tle heard that horn they put

forth many knights; and there

they stood upon the walls,

and said with one voice: Wel-

come be ye to this castle. And

then it waxed clear day, and

Sir Palomides entered into the

castle. And within a while he

was served with many divers

meats. Then Sir Palomides

heard about him much weep-

ing and great dole. What may

this mean? said Sir Palomides;

I love not to hear such a sor-

row, and fain I would know

afore La Beale Isoud he cursed

the time that ever he bare Sir

Tristram's helm, and there he

told her how Sir Tristram had

mocked him. Then was there

laughing and japing at Sir

Dinadan, that they wist not

what to do with him.

CHAPTER 61

How Palomides went for to

fight with two brethren for

the death of King Hermance.

NOW will we leave them

merry within Joyous Gard,

and speak we of Sir Palo-

mides. Then Sir Palomides

sailed evenlong Humber to the

coasts of the sea, where was

a fair castle. And at that time

it was early in the morning,

afore day.

26

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estates may beware by our king. But alas, said Ebel, that we shall give all other warn-ing by his death.

Tell me, said Palomides, and in what manner was your lord slain, and by whom. Sir, said Sir Ebel, our king brought up of children two men that now are perilous knights; and these two knights our king had so in charity, that he loved no man nor trusted no man of his blood, nor none other that was about him. And by these two knights our king was governed, and so they ruled him peaceably and his lands, and never would they suffer none of his blood to have no rule with our king. And also he was so free and so gen-tle, and they so false and de-ceivable, that they ruled him peaceably; and that espied the lords of our king's blood, and departed from him unto their own livelihood. Then when these two traitors un-

what it meaneth. Then there

came afore him one whose

name was Sir Ebel, that said

thus: Wit ye well, sir knight,

this dole and sorrow is here

made every day, and for this

cause: we had a king that

hight Hermance, and he was

King of the Red City, and this king that was lord was a no-ble knight, large and liberal of his expense; and in the world he loved nothing so much as he did errant knights of King Arthur's court, and all joust-ing, hunting, and all manner of knightly games; for so kind a king and knight had never the rule of poor people as he was; and because of his good-ness and gentle ness we be-moan him, and ever shall. And all kings and estates may be-ware by our lord, for he was destroyed in his own default; for had he cherished them of his blood he had yet lived with great riches and rest: but all

Le morte d'Arthur

28

that hight Helius he suddenly smote our king through the body with a spear, and so they left him there. And when they were departed, then by fortune I came to the well, and found my lord and king wounded to the death. And when I heard his complaint, I let bring him to the water side, and in that same ship I put him alive; and when my lord King Her-mance was in that vessel, he required me for the true faith I owed unto him for to write a letter in this manner.

CHAPTER 62

The copy of the letter writ-

ten for to revenge the king's

death, and how Sir Palomides

fought for to have the battle.

RECOMMENDING unto King Arthur and to all his knights errant, beseeching them all that insomuch as I, King Her-

derstood that they had driven all the lords of his blood from him, they were not pleased with that rule, but then they thought to have more, as ever it is an old saw: Give a churl rule and thereby he will not be sufficed; for whatsomever he be that is ruled by a vil-lain born, and the lord of the soil to be a gentleman born, the same villain shall destroy all the gentlemen about him: therefore all estates and lords, beware whom ye take about you. And if ye be a knight of King Arthur's court remem-ber this tale, for this is the end and conclusion. My lord and king rode unto the forest hereby by the advice of these traitors, and there he chased at the red deer, armed at all pieces full like a good knight; and so for labour he waxed dry, and then he alighted, and drank at a well. And when he was alighted, by the assent of these two traitors, that one le

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came unto Logris, where all the noble knights shall as-semble at this time. And there shall some good knight have pity on me to revenge my death, for there was never king nor lord falslier nor trai-torlier slain than I am here to my death. Thus was the com-plaint of our King Hermance. Now, said Sir Ebel, ye know all how our lord was betrayed, we require you for God's sake have pity upon his death, and worshipfully revenge his death, and then may ye wield all these lands. For we all wit well that an ye may slay these two traitors, the Red City and all those that be therein will take you for their lord.

Truly, said Sir Palomides, it grieveth my heart for to hear you tell this doleful tale; and to say the truth I saw the same letter that ye speak of, and one of the best knights on the earth read that letter

mance, King of the Red City, thus am slain by felony and treason, through two knights of mine own, and of mine own bringing up and of mine own making, that some wor-shipful knight will revenge my death, insomuch I have been ever to my power well willing unto Arthur's court. And who that will adventure his life with these two trai-tors for my sake in one battle, I, King Hermance, King of the Red City, freely give him all my lands and rents that ever I wielded in my life. This let-ter, said Ebel, I wrote by my lord’s commandment, and then he received his Crea-tor; and when he was dead, he commanded me or ever he were cold to put that letter fast in his hand. And then he commanded me to put forth that same vessel down Hum-ber, and I should give these mariners in commandment never to stint until that they

29

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30

death, and that is Sir Tristram de Liones, or else Sir Launcelot du Lake.

Then Sir Palomides departed from that castle. And as he came nigh the city, there came out of a ship a goodly knight armed against him, with his shield on his shoulder, and his hand upon his sword. And anon as he came nigh Sir Palomides he said: Sir knight, what seek ye here? leave this quest for it is mine, and mine it was or ever it was yours, and therefore I will have it. Sir knight, said Palomides, it may well be that this quest was yours or it was mine, but when the letter was taken out of the dead king's hand, at that time by likelihood there was no knight had undertaken to revenge the death of the king. And so at that time I promised to revenge his death, and so I shall or else I am ashamed. Ye say well, said the knight, but

to me, and by his command-ment I came hither to revenge your king's death; and there-fore have done, and let me wit where I shall find those trai-tors, for I shall never be at ease in my heart till I be in hands with them. Sir, said Sir Ebel, then take your ship again, and that ship must bring you unto the Delectable Isle, fast by the Red City, and we in this castle shall pray for you, and abide your again-coming. For this same castle, an ye speed well, must needs be yours; for our King Hermance let make this castle for the love of the two traitors, and so we kept it with strong hand, and there-fore full sore are we threated. Wot ye what ye shall do, said Sir Palomides; whatsomev-er come of me, look ye keep well this castle. For an it mis-fortune me so to be slain in this quest I am sure there will come one of the best knights of the world for to revenge my le

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CHAPTER 63

Of the preparation of Sir Pal-

omides and the two brethren

that should fight with him.

WELL be ye found, said the knight to Palomides, for of all knights that be alive, ex-cept three, I had liefest have you. The first is Sir Launcelot du Lake, and Sir Tristram de Liones, the third is my nigh cousin, Sir Lamorak de Galis. And I am brother unto King Hermance that is dead, and my name is Sir Hermind. Ye say well, said Sir Palomides, and ye shall see how I shall speed; and if I be there slain go ye to my lord Sir Launcelot, or else to my lord Sir Tristram, and pray them to revenge my death, for as for Sir Lamorak him shall ye never see in this world. Alas, said Sir Hermind, how may that be? He is slain, said Sir Palomides, by Sir Gawaine and his brethren. So

wit ye well then will I fight with you, and who be the bet-ter knight of us both, let him take the battle upon hand. I assent me, said Sir Palomides. And then they dressed their shields, and pulled out their swords, and lashed together many sad strokes as men of might; and this fighting was more than an hour, but at the last Sir Palomides waxed big and better winded, so that then he smote that knight such a stroke that he made him to kneel upon his knees. Then that knight spake on high and said: Gentle knight, hold thy hand. Sir Palomides was goodly and withdrew his hand. Then this knight said: Wit ye well, knight, that thou art better worthy to have this battle than I, and require thee of knighthood tell me thy name. Sir, my name is Palo-mides, a knight of King Ar-thur’s, and of the Table Round, that hither I came to revenge the death of this dead king.

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up at the Red City, and there he told them how there was come a knight of King Arthur's to avenge King Hermance's death: And his name is Sir Pal-omides, the good knight, that for the most part he followeth the beast Glatisant. Then all the city made great joy, for mickle had they heard of Sir Palomides, and of his noble prowess. So let they ordain a messenger, and sent unto the two brethren, and bade them to make them ready, for there was a knight come that would fight with them both. So the messenger went unto them where they were at a castle there beside; and there he told them how there was a knight come of King Arthur's court to fight with them both at once. He is welcome, said they; but tell us, we pray you, if it be Sir Launcelot or any of his blood? He is none of that blood, said the messenger. Then we care the less, said the two breth-ren, for with none of the

God me help, said Hermind, there was not one for one that slew him. That is truth, said Sir Palomides, for they were four dangerous knights that slew him, as Sir Gawaine, Sir Agravaine, Sir Gaheris, and Sir Mordred, but Sir Gareth, the fifth brother was away, the best knight of them all. And so Sir Palomides told Hermind all the manner, and how they slew Sir Lamorak all only by treason.

So Sir Palomides took his ship, and arrived up at the De-lectable Isle. And in the mean-while Sir Hermind that was the king's brother, he arrived

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cation; for Merlin prophesied much of that beast. And also Sir Palomides avowed never to take full christendom unto the time that he had done sev-en battles within the lists.

So within the third day there came to the city these two brethren, the one hight He-lius, the other hight Helake, the which were men of great prowess; howbeit that they were false and full of trea-son, and but poor men born, yet were they noble knights of their hands. And with them they brought forty knights, to that intent that they should be big enough for the Red City. Thus came the two breth-ren with great bobaunce and pride, for they had put the Red City in fear and damage. Then they were brought to the lists, and Sir Palomides came into the place and said thus: Be ye the two breth-ren, Helius and Helake, that

blood of Sir Launcelot we keep not to have ado withal. Wit ye well, said the messenger, that his name is Sir Palomides, that yet is unchristened, a no-ble knight. Well, said they, an he be now unchristened he shall never be christened. So they appointed to be at the city within two days. And when Sir Palomides was come to the city they made pass-ing great joy of him, and then they beheld him, and saw that he was well made, cleanly and bigly, and unmaimed of his limbs, and neither too young nor too old. And so all the people praised him; and though he was not christened yet he believed in the best manner, and was full faith-ful and true of his promise, and well conditioned; and be-cause he made his avow that he would never be christened unto the time that he had achieved the beast Glatisant, the which was a full wonder-ful beast, and a great signifi-

Le morte d'Arthur

34

were slain.

THEN they departed, and the two brethren came against Sir Palomides, and he against them, as fast as their hors-es might run. And by for-tune Sir Palomides smote Helake through his shield and through the breast more than a fathom. All this while Sir He-lius held up his spear, and for pride and orgulite he would not smite Sir Palomides with his spear; but when he saw his brother lie on the earth, and saw he might not help himself, then he said unto Sir Palomides: Help thyself. And therewith he came hurtling unto Sir Palomides with his spear, and smote him quite from his saddle. Then Sir He-lius rode over Sir Palomides twice or thrice. And therewith Sir Palomides was ashamed, and gat the horse of Sir Helius by the bridle, and therewithal the horse areared, and Sir Pal-

slew your king and lord, Sir Hermance, by felony and trea-son, for whom that I am come hither to revenge his death? Wit thou well, said Sir Helius and Sir Helake, that we are the same knights that slew King Hermance; and wit thou well, Sir Palomides Saracen, that we shall handle thee so or thou depart that thou shalt wish that thou wert chris-tened. It may well be, said Sir Palomides, for yet I would not die or I were christened; and yet so am I not afeard of you both, but I trust to God that I shall die a better christian man than any of you both; and doubt ye not, said Sir Pal-omides, either ye or I shall be left dead in this place.

CHAPTER 64

Of the battle between Sir Pal-

omides and the two brethren,

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be slain for our king's sake. And as they were thus weep-ing and crying, Sir Palomides that had suffered an hundred strokes, that it was wonder that he stood on his feet, at the last Sir Palomides beheld as he might the common peo-ple, how they wept for him; and then he said to himself: Ah, fie for shame, Sir Palo-mides, why hangest thou thy head so low; and therewith he bare up his shield, and looked Sir Helius in the visage, and he smote him a great stroke upon the helm, and after that another and another. And then he smote Sir Helius with such a might that he fell to the earth grovelling; and then he raced off his helm from his head, and there he smote him such a buffet that he departed his head from the body. And then were the people of the city the joyfullest people that might be. So they brought him to his lodging with great so-lemnity, and there all the peo-

omides halp after, and so they fell both to the earth; but anon Sir Helius stert up lightly, and there he smote Sir Palomides a great stroke upon the helm, that he kneeled upon his own knee. Then they lashed together many sad strokes, and traced and traversed now backward, now sideling, hur-tling together like two boars, and that same time they fell both grovelling to the earth.

Thus they fought still with-out any reposing two hours, and never breathed; and then Sir Palomides waxed faint and weary, and Sir Helius waxed passing strong, and doubled his strokes, and drove Sir Pal-omides overthwart and end-long all the field, that they of the city when they saw Sir Palomides in this case they wept and cried, and made great dole, and the other par-ty made as great joy. Alas, said the men of the city, that this noble knight should thus

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36

whereas Sir Tristram was and La Beale Isoud. Sir Tristram had commanded that what knight errant came within the Joyous Gard, as in the town, that they should warn Sir Tristram. So there came a man of the town, and told Sir Tristram how there was a knight in the town, a passing goodly man. What manner of man is he, said Sir Tristram, and what sign beareth he? So the man told Sir Tristram all the tokens of him. That is Pal-omides, said Dinadan. It may well be, said Sir Tristram. Go ye to him, said Sir Tristram unto Dinadan. So Dinadan went unto Sir Palomides, and there either made other great joy, and so they lay together that night. And on the morn early came Sir Tristram and Sir Gareth, and took them in their beds, and so they arose and brake their fast.

ple became his men. And then Sir Palomides prayed them all to take keep unto all the lord-ship of King Hermance: For, fair sirs, wit ye well I may not as at this time abide with you, for I must in all haste be with my lord King Arthur at the Castle of Lonazep, the which I have promised. Then was the people full heavy at his de-parting, for all that city prof-fered Sir Palomides the third part of their goods so that he would abide with them; but in no wise as at that time he would not abide. And so Sir Palomides departed, and so he came unto the castle thereas Sir Ebel was lieutenant. And when they in the castle wist how Sir Palomides had sped, there was a joyful meiny; and so Sir Palomides departed, and came to the castle of Lon-azep. And when he wist that Sir Tristram was not there he took his way over Humber, and came unto Joyous Gard, le

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(BRI-gg-id) Arianrhod (A-ree-an-RH-od) Rhiannon (rhee-ANN-on) Epona (EPP-u-na)

Cerridwen Mwrgan(KE-rrid-wen) (Morgan)

Blodeuwedd Creudylad(BLOD-oo-e'dd') (krew-DUL-ad)

Llew Pryderi('LL'-oo) (pri-DERRY) Gwythur (GWI-'dd'-ur) Mabon (MAB-on)

Gwynn Gronw Pebyr(GWINN) (GRON-oo PEBB-ear)

Mannanan Manawyddin(ma-NAN-an) (mana-WI'DD'-in)

Deva Dyfrdwy(DEE-va) (duv-RUD-oo-ee)

Abandinus (a-band-DEE-nuss)

Sulis Coventina (SOO-liss) (kov-enn-TEE-na) Cyfanden (KUV-an-den) Minerva (mi-NERV-a) Sulis (SOO-liss)

Agrona Morrigan(ag-ROW-na) MO-rigg-an) Aeron (E-ron)

For the second part of our article we’ll be looking at gods & deities in the local pantheon. These will include deities not listed elsewhere in Pendragon and also any unusu-al creatures that travelling knights may encounter. Many of these will only have one entry as pains were taken in the Pendragon rulebook to accurately portray them and because they haven’t been widely worshipped since the Romano-British culture they have escaped cultural and linguistic subversion.

Deities

Canon Cymric Pronunciation Alternatives

Beli Lugh Belenos (BELLy- Loo) (BELL-e-noss) LLud (LL-id) Nudd (NI-'dd') Llyr (LL-ear)

Bran Pwyll(BR-an) (P-oo-u-LL) Urbgen (URG-en)

Math Esus(Math) (ESS-uss)

Don Modron(Don) (MOD-rron) Brigid

Unusual characters

The Welsh alphabet a b c ch d dd e f ff g ng h i l ll m n o p ph r rh s t th u w y

Nothing, I think, is more diffi-cult to master than the ‘double LL’ sound you find in Llangollen or ‘Lloegr’.

A quick guide to pronouncing unusual letters in Welsh.

CH/ch - is the same as in J.S. Bach

DD/dd is a softened ‘D’ sound equivalent to a ‘Th’ sound but the ‘Th’ you find in the word ‘Fathom’, not ‘Bath’.

F/f - As in the English letter ‘V’.

Ff/ff - is the same as in English, like ‘fort’. Not, as it may be as-sumed, a longer version.

Ng/ng - As in ‘Thing’.

Ll/ll - No equivalent in Eng-lish. It is made by placing the tip of your tongue on the gums behind your top front teeth and blowing gently. In Shake-speare’s time this was mimicked by using ‘Fl’ instead of ‘Ll’. In Henry V Llewellyn is known as ‘Flewellyn’ (flew-ELL-inn).

Ph/ph - As in ‘phone’ or ‘graph’.

Rh/rh - An aspirated tapped ‘r’ sound as mentioned previously. No equivalent in English.

‘Now Gods stand up for bastards’William Shakespeare

King Lear -Act 1, Scene 2

A Cymric pronunciation guide for non-Welsh speakers

38

Afagddu (a-VAG-'dd'ee)

Taliesin(TAL-ee-ESS-inn)

City of Legions Caer (c-EYE-r) Castra Legio (CASS-tra LEE-gee-o)

Eburacum Eborakon(ee-burr-AK-um) (ebb=ORA-kon)

Canon Cymric Pronunciation Alternatives

Albina Alban(aL-BEE-na) (AL-ban) Albina (ALA-pin-a)

Amaethon Ymeddan(am-AY-th-on) (um-E'DD'-an)

Barinthus Barynddus(ba-RIN-thuss) (ba-RIN-'dd'-uss)

Rhydderch(RHU-'dd'-erch*)

Andraste Andrasta(an-DRAST-er) (an-DRAST-a)

Arawn(a-ROW-n)

Govanen Gyfannon(go-VAN-on) (guv-ANN-on)

Other Heroes, Orders, & Monsters

Avanc Afanc(AV-anc) (AV-anc) Addanc (A'DD'-anc)

Druid/s Derwydd/on(DROO-id/s) (derroo-I'DD'on)

Ysbaddadan(US-ba-'DD'AD-an)

Twrch Trwyth(TOO-rch TROO-with)

Bala Lake Llyn Tegid(BA-la LAY-k) (LLINN TEG-id)

Awen(AR-wen)

Th/th - As in ‘thin’.

U/u - Substitutes as an ‘i’ sound as in ‘spit’ or ‘pristine’.

W/w - is an ‘oo’ sound (as in ‘book’ or ‘pool’ but also can be used as in ‘wet’.

Y/y - In northern Welsh it is a flat ‘e’ sound as in ‘bet’ and is similar to an ‘i’ sound in south-ern Welsh. As well as an ‘u’ sound in ‘up’ (like in Cymru, or KUM-ree).

A better resource than my humble efforts exists here:

http://www.madog.org/dysgw-yr/gramadeg/gramadeg1.html

For actual Welsh words then here is a good place to hear them spoken.

http://www.heart-of-wales.co.uk/welsh.htm#

The Pendragon Eschille are back at Continuum 2014

(25-28th July 2014) and aiming to run at least one

Pendragon or Arthurian themed game in most gaming sessions over

Saturday and Sunday so watch those sign up boards. From adrenaline filled tournaments, to magical quests and

tales of courtly love we hope we have something to offer for all who have dreamed of being knights in shining

armour, and maybe even a few surprises along the way!

The Eschille are a group of Pendragon fans from The Round Table Forum who have come together to run Pendragon games at

Continuum and other conventions with the support of Greg Stafford (the game's author) and Nocturnal (its publisher) since 2010.

'Eschille' - an Anglo-Norman word for a group or company of knights in battle,

which has evoled into the modern word 'echelon'.

The Round Table Forum : http://www.nocturnal-media.com/forum/

Continuum Gaming Convention : http://continuumconvention.co.uk

Greg Stafford : http://www.gspendragon.com/

Nocturnal : http://nocturnal-media.com

40

The Beginning...

King Einion of Ebrauc’s only heir, Prince Eliffer, lies critically wound-ed from a poisoned- or magically cursed- arrow. Nothing is working to heal the wound.

The heroes (through the seer and mystic, Aelianus) know that the Caul-dron of Dirrnach lies in the old tem-ple of Mithras in Londinium, and is a fabled artifact with the power to cure any ill. A quest ensues to find the cauldron and heal the prince!

The Saxon Camp

Just north of the city is a camp with hundreds of Saxons. They send out regular patrols, and keep British peo-ple as thralls, marked as slaves by their iron collars. The thralls carry out manual labour in the camp.

The camp is outside of Londinium rather than in the city, as the super-stitious Saxons say that the city is still cursed by the British gods.

Prince Offa

In his early 20s, Offa the Atheling is currently King Aelle of Sussex’s heir. He finds his followers’ superstition unfortunate, but has decided not to push them- yet.

Offa does not view himself as a ty-rant, though he can be as bloody as any other Saxon warlord, and knows how to take what he wants. He has one quirk when it comes to prisoners and captives- he lets them go if they can beat him at a game of latrunculi- though if a prisoner loses a game of latrunculi against the prince, he has them executed.

The Streetsof Londinium

An Age of Arthur Scenarioby Paul Mitchener

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Aspects:

Londinium should be mine

Contender for the throne

Player of games

Skills:

Level 5: Strategy and Tactics

Level 4: Gaming, Willpower

Level 3: Awareness, Leadership, Me-lee Combat

Level 2: Agility, Brawling, Strength, Wealth

Level 1: Charm, Contacts, Languag-es, Missile Combat, Survival

Languages: Saxon, Brythonic

Stunts:

Tough, Strong-willed, Leadership Specialism (+1 for followers in the camp), Fighting Style (+1 Melee for defence when fighting with a battle-axe, can block ranged attacks)

Health 5

Composure 6

Weapons: Battleaxe +4, Seax +2, Spear +2

Offa has five elite bodyguards:

Aspect: Loyal to Offa to the Death

Skill 4

Stress 4

Battleaxe +3, Seax +2, Spear +2

The player characters are likely to en-counter a patrol, either approaching into Londinium, or within the city if they are heading towards the Temple of Mithras. If they are captured, they will be taken back to Offa. This is not a death sentence, but Offa wants to exact an oath from the player char-acters to recover the cauldron- to him. Offa’s wizard, Osmund (see be-low) has mentioned the Cauldron of Dirrnach as the key to Londinium’s power, so Offa sees it as the key to conquest.

Actually, Osmund wants the Caul-dron for his own ends- it is a pow-erful magical artifact. Everything else from Osmund, even his service to Offa, is a way of getting the Caul-dron.

The Patrol

Leader: Thrydwulf

Aspects: For Glory!, Oath to Prince Offa

Skill 4

Stress 4

Battleaxe +3, Seax +2, Spear +2

Ordinary Saxon warriors (two per player character)

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Aspect: In search of heineity

Skill 2

Stress 2

Battleaxe +3, Seax +2, Spear +2

Avoiding the patrol is a matter of a skill contest involving Stealth, Aware-ness, Athletics and similar skills. A straight fight is also an option for the heroes.

In the Big Bad City

Londinium is all-but abandoned, and

much of the Roman architecture lies ruined. Features of the city include:

* An empty market forum, fill of haunting sounds caused by winds blowing through missing bricks.

* A crumbling amphitheatre.

* A timber bridges across the River Tamesis (the modern Thames), un-stable and in need of repair.

The Cauldron of Dirrnach, as noted above, is believed to be in the Tem-ple of Mithras, the Soldier God. This temple contains scenes of Mithras’

Londinium

Saxon Camp

Forum

Novellus Villa

Temple ofMithras

Governor'sPalace

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life painted on the wall- his birth from a rock, his slaying of the cos-mic bull, and the sun god bowing his head to Mithras. The temple holds a sacrificial altar, where animals were killed and given to Mithras. Beneath the altar is a pit, where initiates into the cult were showered in the blood of a slaughtered bull.

The torches above the altar in the temple are still lit. Yes, this is magic- a trace of the ancient magic of the god. The fires can be extinguished, but the one who extinguishes them is cursed with a new Aspect: Displeas-ure of Mithras. This new Aspect can be used once at no Fate Point cost by the character’s enemies.

Using the torches in divination mag-ic grants a +2 bonus. This might be necessary- the Cauldron isn’t in the temple. A Divination check at dif-ficulty 8 reveals the Cauldron to be in the Governor’s Palace (see below). If the sample player characters are used, Aelianus can try this.

A more likely method than magical divination is mundane information gathering. The only remaining in-habitants of Londinium dwell in vil-las to the south. Of the sample player charactres, Andoc has connections with the Novellus family, and could be compelled to visit them.

Roman Villas

The largest of the surviving villas to the south of the city is damaged by fire, but still standing. It belongs to the Novellus family, and like other

Roman villas, it is a building with se-cure outer walls, and an inner atri-um. The gardens within the villa are still well-maintained.

For all that, the Novellus villa is sur-rounded by wreckage and ruins. The nearby Vespilo family villa, which a few years ago belonged to the most powerful family in Londinium, is now destroyed.

Twenty militia are present to defend the Villa, along with the Novellus family and several dependant fami-lies. The villa is almost a small castle in scope.

Militia

Aspect: Last defence against the bar-barians

Skill 2

Stress 2

Leather Armour 1

Gladius +2, ignore one armour, Spear +2

Recently, the head of the family, Lu-cius Novellus perished when leading men to help defend the Vespilo villa against Saxon raiders. The new head of the family is Lucius’ daughter, Drusilla Genesia Novellus.

Drusilla Genesia Novellus

Drusilla is proud of her Roman herit-age, trained in the arts of war, and stubborn. She will defend the villa

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as long as she can- it is her home, and she has a duty to others who live there. She still worships the pagan Roman gods, distrusting both Chris-tianity and the British gods.

Aspects:

Proud of Roman heritage

Protect the family villa

Oath: Avenge father’s death

Skills:

Level 4: Willpower

Level 3: Charm, Leadership

Level 2: Lore (Roman Culture and History), Melee Combat, Strategy and Tactics

Level 1: Empathy, Languages, Rid-ing, Wealth

Languages: Latin, Latin literacy, Brythonic

Stunts: Strong Will

Health 3

Composure 7

Equipment: Gladius (+2 damage, ignore 1 armour), Old Roman Jewel-lery, Small Mirror

Drusilla wants to avange her father’s death. She knows who did it- a group of Saxons led by a red haired green-eyed warrior in ring mail. She even knows where he might be -the Gover-

nor’s Palace.

According to the reports of others in the city, the Governor’s Palace is strange- it appears now not in ruins, but in its full Roman glory.

What Drusilla wants is for the play-er characters to share her oath to avenge Lucius’ death. If they agree to this, she will lend them men for the job, and suggest that if it’s magic they are looking for, the magic at the Gov-ernor’s Palace (for what else could it be?) is surely a sign. If the heroes are less keen to share Drusilla’s venge-ance quest, a social contest of some kind may be needed to get her help.

Outside the Governor's Palace

A fair-sized force of Saxons is present at the Governor’s Palace. They guard it, but far more from what is within than what is without. The wizard Os-mund is in the process of setting up a series of stones carved with runes around the palace. When fully set-up, these runes will suppress the use of the Fae Glamours within.

It should be clear by this stage that the player characters need to get past the Saxons and into the palace. This needs a better plan than taking all of them on head on without any back-up.

30 Elite Saxon Warriors

Aspects: Born for war, Loot and pil-lage

Skill 3

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Battleaxe +3, Seax +2, Spear +2

Horsa

Horsa is the “red-haired green-eyed Saxon.” His father was a Saxon prince, and his mother a British thrall. Horsa is determined to prove himself worthy of a more royal herit-age, and has fallen in with the wiz-ard Osmund, hoping an alliance will help him on his way to power.

Aspects:

Outsider

Way to Power

Calculating but Brutal

Skills:Level 5: Melee Combat

Level 4: Awareness, Strategy and Tactics

Level 3: Missile Combat, Strength, Willpower

Level 2: Brawling, Gaming, Leader-ship, Wealth

Level 1: Agility, Languages, Riding, Stealth, Survival

Languages: Brythonic, Latin, Saxon

Stunts:

Extra Refresh

Magic ResistanceToughness

Weapon of Vengeance

Health 6

Composure 5

Ringmail and Shield (Absorption 3)

Spatha +3, Longbow +2

Osmund

Osmund is one of King Aelle’s advis-ers. He has rare knowledge and mag-ical power of great use to his country-men. However, he is neither liked nor trusted, so often spends time away from the king and his other advisers n either the king’s business or that of his own. His current business is the Cauldron of Dirrnach- he wants it for his own, and has manipulated matters so that he is in a position to claim it.

Osmund has cultivated an arrogant, sarcastic and often frightening man-ner. He despises his fellow man, feel-ing his powers and intellect make him superior. He despairs and revels in equal measure at how easily peo-ple can be manipulated. When work-ing as a magician, if in human form, he daubs his face with blood and ash and wears a necklace made from the skulls of animals, all the better to cause fear and awe.Aspects:

Connections with King Aelle’s court

Despises his fellow man

The Arts of Terror and Deception

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The Road to Magical Power

Skills: Level 5: Intimidation

Level 4: Deception, Rune Magic

Level 3: Awareness, Brawling, Will-power

Level 2: Contact, Healing, Languag-es, Shapechanging

Level 1: Agility, Stealth, Strength, Survival, Wealth

Stunts: Empowered EnchantmentBlessing of Wotan

Rune Wizardry

Skin Changer

Health 4

Composure 5

Languages: Brythonic, Latin, Saxon, Futhark Runes

Shapechanging Forms: Bear, Eagle

Equipment: Necklace of animal skulls (empowered by Rune Magic with the Aspect Otherworldly Terror, use once per scene at no Fate Point cost), Enchanted Bear and Eagle skins, Survival Equipment, Healing Kit.

Eagle Form: Free Aspect, Form of the Eagle, Stunts Flight and Swift.

Bear Form: Free Aspect, Form of the Bear, Absorption 1, Damage 3.

In the Palace

The Governor’s Palace appears to be in its prime, with fine gardens, stat-ues of the twelve Olympian gods, pools and fountains, mosaics and so on.

There are 24 slaves in the villa, who appear human and go by Greek names. These slaves are not what they seem, like so much else here, be-ing Fae.

Aspect: Single-minded dedication to duties

Skill 2

Stress 2

Also present are six Barghests- wolves who can assume human form, albeit with lupine features.

Aspect: Intelligent Fae Wolf

Skill 3

Stress 3

Damage 2

Stunt: Scent TrackingFinally, in charge is the ladyDomitia Antonia- apparently a Ro-man noblewoman from centuries earlier. She calls herself Queen of Londinium.

Aspects: Fae Noblewoman, Gener-ous, Long-term glamours in domain, Roman manners, Sensitive to insults and breaches of etiquette

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Skills: Level 6: Glamour

Level 5: Willpower, Deception

Level 4: Awareness, Leadership, Lore [Roman culture]

Level 3: Agility, Charm, Intimida-tion, Lore [history]

Level 2: Empathy, Gaming, In-timidation, Melee Combat, Riding, Strategy and Tactics

Level 1: Languages [Latin literacy], Lore [Fae, the old gods], Perfor-mance [flute, singing], Strength

Stunts: Elegant

Enduring Glamours

Magic Resistance

Strong Will

Vision of Terror

Equipment: Fine Roman Clothes, Spatha (Damage 3), Lorica Segmen-tata (Absorption 3: Appears when needed), Luxury food and drink, a ruined Roman villa made a vision of opulence through Glamour.

Health 4,

Willpower 8

Admittance to the Fae Queen’s domain requires the completion of three challenges- and as a “Ro-man”, Domitia dislikes the Saxons, refusing them admittance outright. Her command of Glamours makes

it hard to get into the palace against her will, though an Investigation or Awareness check made against Domitia’s Glamours skill could do it. Before the player characters are allowed to even speak with Queen Domitia, they must succeed at three challenges. These should be appro-priate to the heroes. Possibilities include:

* An arm-wrestling contest with one of the Barghests.* A game of latrunculi with one of the servants.* A musical contest with one of the servants.* A chariot race with one of the Barghests.* A staring contest with the queen herself, who is disguised as a Barghest for the purpose.

A different hero must perform each challenge. The staring con-test should be the last challenge, giving Domitia an appropriately dramatic entrance. Being one of the Fae, Domitia will also take the opportunity to mess with the player characters. One thing she can do is remove any Oaths- which she will gleefully offer to do.

Domitia has the Cauldron in the heart of the palace, in the shrine to the Olympians, kept invisible with glamours. She will give up the Caul-dron if the player characters give a suitable gift in return, or agree to a favour for her- the death of the wiz-ard Osmund, and removal of the rune-engraved stones outside the palace.

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Competition!It is our great fortune to be able to offer a prize for the best submission to the next issue of Dragons of Brit-ain courtesy of Christopher Payne of the Pendragon Eschille.

To enter, all you need is send in a submission! It can be an article, scenario, a piece of art, short fic-tion, or anything else that fits into the sphere of Arthurian gaming.

You will retain the rights to your work, all you will be doing is al-lowing us to produce it here in the magazine.

The Prize? A wonderful volume by renowned poet & author Pamela Porter.

‘Courtly Love in Medieval Manu-scripts’ is illustrated with some fantastic medieval art and explains the concept, and some misconcep-tions, of courtly love. It’s a won-derful mirror to medieval society and explains the paradox behind knights who were bred for war and the high chivalric ideals expected of them by womankind. For exam-ple, allowing women to spectate at Tournements turned a free-for-all mad melee into something much more civilised and sports-like. They became less about bashing a rival about the head and more of a way to show off to the lady of your af-fections.

This is a MUST for every player of a game like Pendragon, or any game

that seeks to encourage it’s players to have their characters behave in a chivalric manner. This prize was kindly donated by Christopher Payne (a contributor to this very magazine).

Send all entries to: [email protected] ‘DoB Submission’ as the subject header.

Thy small print: This competition is open to eve-ryone but submissions must be in English, mustn’t be too lengthy (4000 words max) and those in the Eschille are restricted from entry (your worth is already known!)

Deadline for entries is the First day of October.dr

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49

Elsewhere In Logres

In the City of the Legion a strange apparition has frightened the pop-ulace. The Roman lord of the city seeks brave men and women to find out why a Legionary haunts the Roman walls. Is he making up for some mis-deed? Some derelic-tion of duty? He appears as a blue/white spirit keeping vigil over the walls and gates of the city and has made them all but ungovernable as the city watch refuse to patrol the city walls with this unquiet spirit stalking them. Is there a way to appease this spectre?

Earl Robert seeks the assistance of Geraint the Builder, a near hermit-like recluse who is a master builder living in Gwynedd. Geraint’s father was Dairn, the architect who failed to build Vortigern’s castle when he needed one and Earl Robert thinks now is an ideal opportunity for his son to clear the family name and to creat some good works at Salis-bury. Finding him in the moun-tains of Gwynedd will be difficult especially as he may have laid traps to discourage those who seek him.

In Camelot

A company read-ies to leave for Paris in an escort for Lady Elyzabel who is to be wed to Philip, cousin

to the Frankish King. All is not well hoever, as a strange figure has been asking locals when the company leaves. He has a Frankish accent and has put the court ill at ease. He may be just gaining valuable in-formation on the knights that may take part in the tourney in Paris, or it may be regarding something more sinister.

Sir Lancelot should’ve returned to camelot by now. Murmerings at court display an unusual concern regarding the knights wherabouts. Perhaps a small company of wor-thy knights should ascertain his wherabouts?

Gaelic warriors and knights are arriving ahead of their High King who is due to arrive in the next few weeks. They are likeable but also rowdy troublemakers on occasion. Should this behaviour be allowed to continue? Is King Anguish to be told? Will they bring shame on his name?

Whispers Around the Realm

A look at some of the gossip, tales, and rumours around Arthur’s realm

AD533

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bounty and the land has grown fat and the people are well fed. Some say it’s witchcraft or pagan wor-ship that brings the fairy folk to his farm. Many more think it’s his kind nature and generosity. Either way, the people for miles and miles around will feats well and worry less over Winter.

Strange ‘Mer-men’ have been seen in Lyonesse. Some have been glimpsed at night stealing their way into houses in the fairland and killing the male inhabitants and abducting the women and girls.

All manner of fears run through the local knights at what may have befallen their womenfolk but de-spite rushing to the scene of the abduction, they are often too late. Survivors recall seeing these Mer-men, known locally as the ‘Deep Ones’, throwing the women over their back and returning to the sea. These devils sound like the Afanc or Formorii of old.

A Recorder in Carduel has record-ed an increase in the amount of miraculous events in later years. Despite the desolate area, magic has brought hope to the local peo-ple. No one knows yet whether the magic of the land returns is evil in nature or returns for the good of the people.

Have you heard rumours and tid-ings from around Arthur’s realm? remember where your allegiance lies and send them via the submis-sions details on the contents page.

Outside Logres

Rumours of rebellion or malcon-tentment in Kernow are nothing new but never before have the en-tire population been disgruntled in such a manner as is happening now. King Mark is sending his best knight, the loyal and Valiant Tris-tram, to Camelot in order to seek the hand of the daughter of King Anguish, princess Iseult.

Despite her radiant beauty, the Cor-nish are appalled at a possible alli-ance between Cornwall & the Irish as they have been raided by the very same Gaels for decades. “Are we to marry our enemies now?” shouted one man in the street. Maybe King Mark has a hidden motive for wed-ding an Irish princess but many cannot fathom it. King Arthur him-self is concerned over a possible Cornish/Irish alliance.

Arthur has asked Sir Kay to ensure the safety of Anguish and Iseult while they travel to Camelot lest an attempt is made to end the mar-riage before it is begun. Arthur would rather not see the marriage go ahead but the death of King An-guish or his daughter in Logres by forces unknown could bring disas-ter to Camelot. Arthur knows he has enemies still in the world and not even he could fight the Saxons AND the Irish.

In Garloth a farm has grown mi-raculously abundant. It is said the Farmer is visited by wee folk and is assisted with his crops for a small payment. The locals amaze at this

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Props

If you’re lucky enough to have a collection of swords as I do then these can be quite the prop to have at a gaming table (pro-viding your players aren’t the kind to start swinging it about- safety first!). Other than large expensive objects you can cre-ate maps with sepia ink and paper. Add wax and a stamp to that (usually quite cheap on Ebay and other places) and you have royal letters. You’ll be surprised at how a small mundane object like a scrap of cloth can be emotive. Is that a piece of faux-silk that cost you £1 from the local market or is it the scrap torn from the hem of a dress that belongs to a lady who has been abducted?

Food

Often overlooked, this gaming prop can transport your players to an earlier time. Are your PCs at an Easter feast? Place a wooden bowl full of roast chicken in the centre of the table. Sprinkle some redcurrant sauce on it and there you go. Add fruit, wine (or blackcurrant juice for those driving) and watch everyone dig in. When your players start eating chicken with their hands then it’s a success. One of my ex-partners also felt a little left out of my game nights but didn’t really fancy gaming. Including her in the preparation of the food was a good way to include someone in the social aspect of games night without pushing them to play when they don’t want to. I’m not yet brave enough to try actual medieval dishes yet.

By Steff. Worthington, a terrible chef & gamer.

Following are examples of effects you can use to immerse and instill atmosphere dur-ing your Arthurian games. Getting the bal-ance right is crucial. Try not to drown your players in an environment that will distract from your game. I once ran a game of Call of Cthulhu outside a mountain graveyard in North Wales in the dark. The atmosphere was amazing but everyone was too distracted by gravestones and the weather to really pay enough attention to the game at hand.

It is possible to overuse an effect so think 'less is more'.

Candlelight

Nothing says medieval or fantasy roleplaying like candlelight. Make sure it’s illuminated enough so you can read the charater sheets but nor enough that it starts to rival light bulbs. Also, any device which shields the can-dles from players absent minded attempts to play with the wax is good.

The shadows that play across the walls of the room you’re playing in can be very effective at creating atmosphere.

Music and sound effects

Music has already been dealt with in DoB (see previous issues) but effects can be really helpful in setting up singular environments. A bird screech, bats flying, a wolf howl can all make your players jump if used sparingly but one of the most enjoyable sounds I’ve found is a thunderstorm. three hours of thunder can really make a place or event seem memorable to your players. Youtube is full of lengthy vid-eos containing weather effects.

draconum Britanniam

I cover a couple of books from own bookshelf and I would say that people should find one that suits you and your audience. For me that generally means pictures and rela-tively light treatment of the subject compared with an academic work.

Eyewitness Castle by Christo-pher Gravett published by Dorling Kindersley (ISBN 0 7513 4740 X). With Mostly photographs of real items or re-enactors then this I feel is very accessible to people, and as

Medieval life

Do you know how medieval toilets worked? Why castle stairs general-ly wind round to the right as you go up them? What civilian clothes did men and women wear? How me-dieval food was served (and that forks were unknown)? What child-hood toys people had (always good for a kidnap and rescue scenario)? That wealth is often sumptuous goods (or agricultural produce) rather than coin of the realm.

None of this is essential to run a good game of Pendragon but I feel it helps. Also sometimes there are players who are fine with the whole Knight in armour chopping things down with a sword, but anything wider is a mystery. If you are lucky then players will have watched a movie or three set in the Middle Ages. Occasionally things will oc-cur in games that I’m playing that cause me to wince such as “we send the knight a letter” or “we go down to the shops and buy a hundred yards of red cloth” but so be it and let it pass if players are having fun: at he other end of the spectrum are some people who like their games mired in mud, disease and far too much grim historical reality.

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BibliophiliaEssential Reading

by Christopher Payne

Life in Medieval England pub-lished by Pitkin (ISBN 0 85372 840 2). A brief introduction aimed at adults and before I got hold of vari-ous books published by the British Library then a source of colour pic-tures of medieval illustrations.

a reasonably slim volume is what I most often pack when gaming away from home and working out of one bag.

The Usborne Time Traveller Knights and Castles published by Usborne (ISBN 0 7460 3075 4). Much more of a children’s book and with drawings rather than photographs but it has a useful thematic approach, like “Dawn at the Castle”, “Going Hunting” and “Giving a Feast”

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A book on Heraldry

Heraldry is a skill (and one that a character can get as a family bo-nus for at +10 start skill) so I feel a GM should have understanding of the subject and how it might come into play. If my character ends up with enhanced Heraldry skill but it never features in a scenario be-cause the GM has a very narrow game, whereas m fellow gamer has the hunting bonus and gets lots of advantage from it because the GM can relate to it easier, then I’m go-ing to feel somewhat cheated.

Whilst a player is unlikely to want to end up as full time Herald, Her-alds were used historically to con-duct such things as prisoner ne-gotiations and ransoms because if they combined the recognition (heraldry) with the social skills (courtesy) then hopefully a smooth transaction would result with all sides getting what they wanted out of it.

Books on Heraldry come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and levels. The ones I feature are what I tend to use the most, although for differ-ent purposes. If looking to buy one then think of what you want to do with it and look through it. A schol-arly work is too much for a simple aid to help novice players, whilst a basic guide is no use if you want to understand subjects like cadency, inheritance and what happens on marriage.

One of my most used books has gone missing as I’m writing this. It’s a little paperback from Shire

Books called Discovering Herald-ry (ISBN 9780747806608) by Jac-queline Fearn. All of the interior illustrations are in black and white but it covers the whole subject from simple basics to the complex as-pects of inheritance and marriage in a small, slim volume.

Design your Own Coat of Arms by Rosemary A Chorzempa from Dover Publications (ISBN 0 486 24993 X). I bought this book be-cause it is a slim volume that would fit into my bag when gaming away from home, covered the basics and provided designs (like those in the rulebook) that the players could trace or draw inspiration from. (I also pack some crayons so that de-signs can be coloured in).dr

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Simple Heraldry by a couple of real life Heralds who have names and titles that are far too long to re-peat (ISBN 1 115 885648). This has a different approach of starting off from a practical viewpoint of un-

derstanding what you see around you and why, rather than from the building blocks of divisions, ordinaries, sub-ordinaries and charges. However, it has some very nice colour diagrams illustrating various principles of things like in-heritance and marriage in a light hearted manner. This is definitely a book for the GM rather than nov-ice player.

Finally, a topic which deserves its own fully researched article are the online Heraldry generators, which can be used to design and print shields for your players. I started off (in the days of Windows 3.1) with a

piece of shareware called Blazons! which was written by a teacher and was relatively powerful in terms of what it could achieve once one un-derstood how it built shields (e.g. quartered shields after marriage) moving forwards from the basic drag and drop interface. A move to the Apple Mac has altered things slightly and with a gaming group on hiatus (mainly moving away for jobs, although marriage and chil-dren have also taken their toll) then I currently have limited demand. Type in “Heraldry Generator” to a search engine and then have some fun with the results.

A quick Internet search today has revealed ... http://www.puncher.co.uk/gen_herald.php which looks interesting although doesn’t have animals on it..

This one looks good if with a learn-ing curve and not sure how to get rid of the mantling yet.. http://rpg.uplink.fi/heraldry/

This one appears powerful, al-though would seem to require the full paid for version to get the abil-ity to do things offline and other advantages: http://inkwellideas.com/coat_of_arms/free-version/

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I see Heraldry as an integral part of running Pendragon. There’s a specific skill for Heraldry in ap-plication and one of the options is a glory bonus when determining whom someone actually is, based upon their shield design.

Any roleplaying session should be fun for players and GM but I do start to wince when I see shields drawn as if they were a Goth Com-ic strip frame. Historically by the end of the 15th Century (which in Pendragon terms is the Twilight period) then shields, particularly pavises were starting to see po-litical cartoons or text on them. Equally in the Uther and Anarchy period then heraldry was still in its infancy and designs out to be more akin to what is seen on the Bayeaux Tapestry. I personally like my her-aldry in the period between those two points when it was covering the all important need of telling friend from foe, when everyone is encased in steel from head to toe.

In the same way that I like to have names that spark some interest like Chevalier of the Thousand Isles (see my name generator last issue) then I like my shields to be varied, and I will often use them as a visual aid. I therefore present a random Heraldic Generator to

avoid the “Red Dragon on a white base” not that that isn’t realistic. However, making that comment after a bit of “uh, umm” delay can be a bit of a giveaway that here we have yet another “wandering mon-ster” unimportant NPC knight to buy the GM some time in an even-ing’s gaming. I used to have a few random shield designs to hand but these days I can generally come up with something “different” on the spot, although a few random rolls can always generate something in-teresting. Present something a little unseals and different and players may start to pay more attention, and I also feel that this helps create the concept that there is a world of which the players are but a part.

Heraldry can have a sideways as-pect as well. I personally tend to envisage Guinevere as somewhat flighty but someone who wants to have fun at things like the Pente-cost Tournament. It’s her party (in party – I appreciate that Arthur is footing the bill) and in later periods she has things like the Courts of Love and when playing with some of the optional concepts there are things like the Fashion Parade. In one scenario where a player was at the top table with Guinevere at Pentecost feast then Guinevere had the idea that some of the top

Heralds & ArmsA Heraldry Generator by Christopher Payne

Barons of the land should mimic the sounds of the charges on their shields (or she could choose where inappropriate). I believe I said something like Orate (at full value) or half value for Sing or Courtesy, whichever gave the highest result. Fine until the player with the Cock-erel fumbles and we have a sound like a strangled chicken. As forfeit, we have the Baron (and remem-ber that juniors often like nothing more than their stuffy superiors being ridiculed) leading a round of dance based upon the birdie song, although Guinevere joins in. Surprise then, when the wife of the Baron criticals her dance skill, and Guinevere has a new “best friend” for a while. To me it is such tales and memories like that which give Pendragon and it characters fla-vour and fun.To return to the generator though. In much the same way as the nam-ing generator then this may require a degree of tweaking to achieve a good result: the emphasis has been on producing something that works reasonably quickly. I person-ally have more detailed generators but they consequence is they have more tables and take longer.

The basic rule in heraldry on col-ours is that metal never goes upon metal (so no white upon yellow for example) or colour upon colour in terms of charges and base shield (or ordinary/sub ordinary colour). The one notable exception to this is the King (and Kingdom) of Jerusa-lem which as befits such an impor-tant city to the medieval Christian

mind has a gold (i.e. yellow) cross on a silver (i.e. white) base.

Remember that from a gaming viewpoint then particular charges may be associated with particular family groups. The Orkney clan has the Eagle displayed. The De Ganis Exiles (Lancelot, Bleoberis and Blamore) have the red/white barry (diagonal stripes) of six with various distinguishing marks.

To fully understand the tables then a basic knowledge of heraldry is needed – the alternative was to take up valuable space with illus-trations.

Heraldry Generator Tables

STEPS

1 – Roll on Table 1 for a field (ie. Base colour)

2 – Roll on table 2 for any Division of the shield

3 – Roll as appropriate on Table 3, 4 or 5.

5 – Roll for charges, placement and colour

Table 1 – Base colour

1 – Yellow (Metal)

2 – White (metal)

3 – Red

4 – Blue

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5 – Green

6 – Black

Table 1a – Alternative base colour

These are alternative but much scarcer options historically..

1 – Purple

2 – Fur – Ermine

3 – Fur – Ermines

4 – Fur – Pean

5 – Fur – Vair

6 – Tawny (Orange- Brown).

Table 2 – Division (2d6)

2 Sub Ordinary (table 4)

3 Ordinary (table 3)

4 No Division (table 5)

5 Sub Ordinary (table 4)

6 Ordinary (table 3)

7 No Division (table 5)

8 Ordinary (table 3)

9 Sub Ordinary (table 4)

10 No Division (table 5)

11 Ordinary (table 3)

12 Sub Ordinary (table 4)

Table 3 – Ordinaries

1 – Per Fess

2 – Per Pale

3 – Per Bend

4 – Per Bend Sinister

5 – Per Saltire

6 – Per Chevron

Roll on Table 1 for colour of parti-tion

Then go to Table 5.

Table 4 – Sub Ordinaries

1 Fess

2 Cross

3 Bend

4 Chief or Bend Sinister

5 Saltire

6 Cross

Roll on Table 1 for colour of parti-tion

Then go to Table 5.

Table 4A – Alternate sub ordinar-ies

1 Barry

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2 Pile

3 Bendy

4 Paly

5 Quarterly

6 Gyronny or Fretty

Roll on Table 1 for colour of parti-tion

Then go to Table 5.

Table 5 – Charges

Roll on table 1 for colour remem-bering the rules about no metal upon metal or colour upon colours rules. Remember that items can sometimes be “natural” in terms of colours.

Table 5a – number of identical charges

1 one

2 One

3 One

4 Two

5 Two

6 Three (or more as appropriate) or none.

Table 5b – Location

1 On sub ordinary if present

2 Around sub ordinary if present

3 Top to bottom

4 Top to bottom

5 Left to right

6 Left to right

Table 5c – Individual charges (roll 1d6 followed by second d6)

11 Dragon

12 Lion

13 Eagle

14 Bear

15 Wolf

16 Bull

21 Hound

22 Stag

23 Horse

24 Bird (e.g. Raven, Swan, Cockerel or Pelican)

25 Exotic (e.g. Unicorn, wyvern, Serpent, Cat)

26 Head of 11 to 25

31 Sword

32 Helmet or Crown

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33 Axe or Mace or Hammer

34 Caltrop or Warhorse or Stirrup

35 Lance/Spear or Arrow or Arrow Head (Pheon)

36 Gauntlet or Castle/Tower or Portcullis

41 Dolphin or Fish

42 Boat or Anchor

43 Shell or Trident or Net or Crab

44 Seahorse or Mermaid or Octo-pus

45 Unusual object (e.g. Moors head, goblin head, boot, pillow, maunch, purse)

46 Office bade (e.g. money sack, hawk lure, bow, pen, barrel, key)

51 Fleur de Lys or Star or Roundel

52 Harp or horn

53 Sun or Crescent Moon

54 rose

55 Plant (e.g. Oak Tree, lily or wheat sheaf)

56 Second but different charge – roll again

61 Small metal object (e.g. ring, key, buckle or shears)

62 Bee or Snake or Spider etc

63 Object (e.g. book, bell, loaf of bread, horse shoe)

64 Heart or Diamond or circle or quinquefoil

65 Border around shield or special effect e.g. counterpoised

66 Religious icon (cross, crosier, mitre, sickle, Thor’s hammer etc).

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